SEC Chief Delayed Rule Over Legacy Concerns

By

Jean Eaglesham and

Telis Demos

Updated Dec. 2, 2012 7:44 p.m. ET

In one of her last acts as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro delayed a rule potentially affecting hundreds of billions of dollars of private offerings by companies, in part because of concerns about her personal legacy, according to previously unpublished documents.

Internal SEC emails, released to a congressional panel and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, appear to show how a last-minute intervention by a consumer lobbyist might have helped persuade Ms. Schapiro to change her mind and...